


Beneath the Mask

by how_will_this_go



Category: HEARTBEAT (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-03-07 00:04:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18861682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/how_will_this_go/pseuds/how_will_this_go
Summary: Sometimes the past comes back to haunt us, either through the land of living or the land of dream. Klein had grown accustomed to this, able to keep up a facade of strength whenever her regrets resurfaced. But when one nightmare pushes her to the breaking point, she can no longer keep up the act, and so her mask of cracks.





	1. Back to Where it Began

**Author's Note:**

> *final pam voice*   
> enjoy entertainment baby

The dimly lit chamber smelled of blood, smoke, and grime. Klein panted as she ran her sword through another one of Queen Han’s guards. Casting a quick healing spell upon herself, Klein assessed the situation, Nyx and Caesar were lying motionless on the floor and Eve Xin looked like she was going to keel over at any moment. With more and more of the Queen’s guards surrounding them, Klein knew she had to do something fast, but some nagging feeling in her head was telling her that something wasn’t right here.

“Eve! We have to get out of here!” Klein shouted as she struck down another mog soldier with her sword. Yet at her call, Eve remained motionless, as if she did not hear the cat sith in the first place. “Eve!?” Klein called again, failing to hide the overwhelming panic in her voice. Again, her conjurer remained still as a statue. 

Deciding to take matters into her own hands, Klein sheathed her weapon and rushed towards Eve, determined to carry her out of this hellhole herself. However, once she was within arms reach of her conjurer, Eve evaporated into thin air. Klein screamed in terror as she saw her conjurer disappear right in front of her.

“You left me.” A mysterious voice behind Klein stated. Reeling around to face the stranger who spoke, Klein only to came face to face with Nyx Ronove.

“Nyx?! But I thought you were-“ Klein stated, turning to look over to where Nyx’s body was previously laying, only to see it was no longer there. Not only that, the environment had changed as well. No longer was it the Queen’s chambers, it was now a dark jail cell with an overpowering stench of mold and mud lingering in the air.

“You left me, Klein.” Nyx repeated once again with cold certainty. “You left me to die at the hands of Queen Han.”

“Nyx, I-I-“ Klein started, but it was too late, much like Eve, Nyx vanished into the air, leaving behind only a yellow scarf. “This is…Eve’s scarf…” Klein muttered to herself as she delicately picked the fabric off the ground.

“They’re gone, Klein.” Another voice spoke from the shadows. Klein knew this voice, it belonged to none other than Queen Han.

Drawing her rapier from its sheath, Klein assumed a defensive position. “Show yourself, you coward!” Klein yowled out angrily. She instantly regretted those words, as out from the shadows stepped none other than Caesar, but something about him was…off.

“They’re all gone, Klein. You failed them.” The words were coming from Caesar’s mouth, but the voice was now a distorted mix of both Caesar and Han’s. “You ran from your duty and by doing so you have failed each and every one of them.” They spoke, as they slowly advanced towards Klein.

Klein wanted to shout back, to scream, to make any kind of noise, but whenever she tried to say something, not a sound would come out, it was as if the words were being forced back down into her throat. Absolute terror ran through Klein’s body, in fear she tried to turn and run, but every movement she tried to make took three times as much effort. Looking down, Klein noticed her body was wrapped in metal chains, tightening around her body and pulling her into the ground. Running was impossible and Klein felt both utterly helpless and hopeless.

Caesar continued moving forwards, loud echoes following each step. “Me, Nyx, Eve, you abandoned us, and so we suffered.” Caesar was right in front of Klein at this point, looking down with dead soulless eyes. “And now, everyone else you know and everyone else you care about, they’re all going to suffer as well.”

Caesar put their hand on Klein’s head, but it wasn’t Caesar anymore. Looking up, Klein was greeted with Eve Xin, the woman Klein swore to protect with her life, the woman who accepted Klein despite her faults, the woman whose voice could calm a raging inferno. It was that same sweet and patient voice that whispered,

“And it will all be your fault.”


	2. forward to where it ends

Suddenly, Klein wasn’t in a dungeon anymore, nor was she in the Queen’s chambers, she was in her bed at the Staccato house. Klein wiped her cheeks and noted the mixture of cold sweat and tears clinging to her. She raised her head and let her eyes adjust to the dark, Eve was still fast asleep on her bed in the upper left corner of the room. Klein shakily got up from the mattress put right across from Eve’s; the air in the room seemed humid and borderline suffocating, Klein needed to get out. As she stumbled down the stairway, Klein was grateful her conjurer was a heavy sleeper, the last thing she wanted was for Eve to see her so scared, so panicked, so…weak.

Klein eventually made her way into the kitchen, however the length of time it took her to get down there did nothing to calm her nerves. It felt as though the room was spinning as her mind was filled with a violent static that only ceased when her late conjurer’s words echoed inside her mind. What scared Klein most about the dream was the fact she believed her conjurer’s accusations; It was her fault Nyx had been imprisoned for years upon years, it was her fault Caesar had his body taken from him and was forced to be a vessel for Han, and most importantly, it was her fault that Eve Xin had withdrawn to became a lifeless, unhappy husk of the bright and joyful woman she once was. Klein clenched her eyes shut as tears threatened to spill out once more.

“Stop it…” She mumbled to herself. Klein had done all she could to push those thoughts and feelings away from her, to not let it affect her anymore, to put up a mask. Up until now she had done a good job of it too, Nyx coming back had brought some of her regretful thoughts to the forefront, but Klein had been able to distance herself from them by focusing on the mission at hand, taking Han down. But now? Now there was nothing to distract her from these intrusive thoughts she had been trying so hard to move past.

Deciding to get some water, Klein had to lean against the wall for support as she made her way over to the kitchen shelf, she then picked up one of the many mugs resting atop it. Klein took the cup with an iron grip, afraid that if she were to loosen her hold on it the mug would fall due to her intense shaking. Truthfully, Klein didn’t think that water was going to help her any, in fact she felt quite nauseous and knew that if she did drink something there was a high chance it wouldn’t stay down. Nonetheless, Klein took the water pitcher out from the fridge and poured herself a cup, anything that could distract her from the violent thoughts pounding through her skull would be worth a shot.

Klein stumbled over to the dining table, deciding that she’d rather not go back upstairs right now. As she pulled a chair out, she noticed the picture sitting in the center of the table, it was a picture of Eve standing in front of the family bakery holding her staff over her head with a big smile on her face. Klein remembered this day; it was the first time Eve got to hold her great grandmother’s staff. Eve was ecstatic that day and so was Klein, she still regarded it as one of her fondest memories. But seeing that picture did nothing but bring waves of doubt and self-hatred crashing down upon Klein, as she remembered all the danger that had been present in their previous journey. Klein had promised herself that after Eve Xin had passed, she would keep her Eve, Eve Staccato, out of danger, but she had failed to do that as well. Now Eve was the Den Ambassador, a title that carried a heavy burden, a burden that could crush Eve under its weight, a burden that could kill her. And she had this label, this curse, just because Klein had failed her. The words from her dream echoed in Klein’s mind,

_“And now, everyone else you know and everyone else you care about, they’re all going to suffer as well. And it will all be your fault.”_

**CRACK**

Klein wasn’t sure what came first, the mug breaking in her grip or the pained wail that escaped her lips. Blood was trickling down her hand as shards of the broken glass had cut into her palm, but she didn’t notice or care, she had slumped to the ground, no longer able to hold back the quiet sobs of pain that had been building up throughout the night.

Klein knew Eve would hear this, she was a heavy sleeper, but not extremely so. Klein’s mind raced with ideas to play this off as a simple accident, she had spent her whole life being strong for Eve, she couldn’t falter now, but it seemed the harder she tried to push back the tears, the more fell. 

Just as she expected, a few moments after the glass broke, Klein heard some thumps upstairs that quickly drew closer as they descended to the kitchen.

“Klein?!? Klein!” Eve yelled out as she came down. Her hair was all over the place and there was a spot of drool on the side of her mouth, it seemed as though she had sprung into action the moment she woke up. “Oh my gosh Klein, are you okay? There’s blood on your han-“ Just then Eve noticed the tears running down Klein’s features. “Oh…Oh Klein…” Eve’s voice was only a soft whisper now, concern laced into every sound.

“E-Eve!” Klein said, voice wavering. She couldn’t let Eve see her like this, she just couldn’t! She was her trusted partner for god’s sake! So, she tried her best to play everything off as an accident. “I accide- accidentally knocked over a mug! And I- And I…” However, Klein couldn’t hold the act up, she wasn’t able to get a full sentence out before her voice hiccupped and tears started to fall again. She hated this; she hated that Eve had to see her in such a vulnerable position.

“Klein? Klein, please let me see…” Eve whispered as she knelt down to Klein’s level and reached for her wounded hand. One part of Klein wanted to jerk her hand back to her chest, but she knew that any effort she made to hide her injury would be met with twice the effort to see it by Eve, so slowly she raised her quivering arm. “It’s only a light cut, you’re gonna be okay.” Eve murmured, grabbing a napkin from the table and gently wrapping Klein’s hand with it. Klein wanted to say something, but couldn’t even mumble a soft ‘thanks’ in response.

“So…Are you uh- I mean, do you want to talk about this” Eve asked.

“I’m-I’m…I just-“ Klein gasped out. Suddenly, it seemed as breathing became much more difficult. Klein’s felt her gasps for air becoming much more rapid, inhaling and exhaling in quick succession but without getting any airflow into her lungs.

Eve could tell Klein was in the middle of a panic attack and while she wasn’t sure what the normal procedure was for this type of thing, Eve did know that she hated to see Klein suffer like this. Deciding to go with her gut instinct, Eve pulled Klein close into her arms. “Shh, shh…It’s okay, you’re okay…” She whispered into the cat sith’s ear as she started rubbing circles into her back.

Klein’s shakes eventually became less frequent as she gulped in air like her life depended on it. Eve continued to stroke Klein’s back in an effort to sooth her. “Can you stand?” Eve asked.

“Ye-Yeah…I think so.” Klein mumbled, allowing Eve to untangle her arms from Klein’s waist.

“C’mon, let’s get you back to bed.” Eve said, helping Klein to her feet. Klein grasped Eve’s shoulder in order to balance herself, for her it was as if the room was spinning.

The walk back up the steps was difficult, as Klein was still trembling and dizzy, but Eve still managed to get her back into their shared bedroom. Eve internally thanked her stars that Nyx was out of the house for the night, as the reaper would only make the situation worse…Probably? To be honest, Eve still couldn’t get a solid read on what went through Nyx’s head most of the time, but she did know that the reaper and cat sith rarely got along. Eve didn’t have time to dwell on the topic as she was snapped out of this train of thought once they reached her bed. Eve slowly helped Klein lower herself onto the matress, taking great care to be as gentle as possible. It felt strange to handle Klein this delicately, it made Eve wonder how long she had been dealing with…this, as it was obvious that tonight’s episode had been building up over a long period of time.

After setting Klein down on the bed, Eve took a seat next to her. A heavy silence filled the space between the two, broken only by the shuttered breaths occasionally taken by Klein. Slowly, Eve returned her hand to Klein’s back and continued to rub circles in it, Klein, against her better judgement, leaned into the action and rested her head besides Eve’s.

“I’m not going to pressure you for an answer or anything, but…” Eve started, making sure to pick her words carefully. “Can you tell me what exactly is going on? With you?”

Klein took a shaky breath, she really didn’t want to answer the question, she hated even thinking about what lead up to this point in the first place. But she knew it would be best to come clean; as much as she hated showing signs of weakness, she knew she could trust Eve with all her heart.

Klein took a deep breath before starting. “Just…Just a nightmare. A nightmare about your great grandmother and everything that took place when we visited the Den.” Eve slowly nodded, making sure to give Klein’s shoulder a comforting squeeze whenever she had trouble getting her words out. “And it’s just…I feel like it’s all my fault, Eve…”

“Klein, come on...You know that’s not true…” Eve started.

“But it is!” Klein snapped back, tears beginning to roll down her face again. “I abandoned my teammates! Caesar and Nyx lost so much of their life…And Eve, Eve Xin, she…” She stopped to take a shaky breath, unable to finish the sentence. “And what I hate most about this-about me! Is that I keep making these mistakes; I failed to protect you during our journey, you were put in danger more times than anyone should’ve been! Eve, if something ever happened to you I don’t…I don’t know how I’d ever be able to live with myself…”

As Klein finished her declamation, her head lowered to the ground. She had done it; she had finally aired out the fears that had been boiling inside her for decades. She wasn’t sure how she felt, on one hand she felt relieved to finally have them out in the open, on the other hand she feared how Eve would react.

However, it seemed she did not have to worry at all, because with no hesitation, Eve pulled Klein into a tight embrace. “Klein, oh Klein…” Eve whispered into the mogwai’s ear. “You need to stop blaming yourself for everything. You did what you thought was right back then; you had no idea things would turn out the way they did.” Klein swallowed, but before she could respond, Eve continued. “And everything that happened during our journey? You did all you could to protect me, but you need to understand you can’t do everything and be everywhere and that’s okay.” Eve placed both of her hands on Klein’s shoulders and looked her in the eyes, “Klein I want you to promise me something; promise me you’ll start trying to forgive yourself…please, for me at least?”

Klein gulped, “I can-I can try…”

“That’s all I need from you right now.” Eve said with a smile. “Nobody said stuff like this is easy, but you’re my best friend Klein, I love you and I’m going to be with you every step of the way.”

“Eve…. Thank you.” Klein choked out, she knew Eve cared a great deal for her, but she never imagined she would be this supportive. “I’m truly lucky to have a conjurer like you.”

“Aw shucks! Don’t mention it!” Eve laughed as she scratched the back of her head.

For another couple of minutes, the two sat next to each other on the bed in a comfortable silence, Klein leaning against Eve while Eve wrapped her arm around Klein’s shoulder. It didn’t take long before Eve eventually heard Klein’s breathing soften, it seemed her partner had fallen asleep. At this realization Eve noticed how tired she was feeling herself. Stifling a yawn, she carefully set Klein down onto the bed, then positioned herself beside her with her arms around the cat sith’s waist. Eve sighed in relaxation and started to drift off, tonight had been an ordeal, but she was happy Klein opened up about everything. Eve knew the road to recovery wasn’t going to be short or easy, but for Klein? It would be worth it. And so, Eve fell asleep, with a smile on her face and a cat sith in her arms knowing that whatever the future held for them, they’d tough it out, together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! This was a very personal project of mine as Klein is probably one of my favorite characters of like, all time. So i really wanted to explore how her past affects her because she definitely seems like she's holding some type of deep regret towards everything that happened in the past. Could I just be self projecting?...Yeah probably ;v;


End file.
